Former African leader gets $5 million. Festus Mogae, the former president of Botswana, won $5 million dollars for helping to promote good leadership in Africa.  The award was connected to the Ibrahim Prize, the single most valuable prize in the world. The prize was created by Sudanese businessman Mo Ibrahim. During a ceremony, Mogae, who stepped down in April, was praised for actively fighting the AIDS epidemic in his nation. “President Mogae’s outstanding leadership has ensured Botswana’s continued stability and prosperity in the face of an HIV/AIDS pandemic, which threatened the future of his country and people,” former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said.  ”I did not create the democracy in my country. I consolidated it and deepened it by practiced, accountable governance, respect of the rule of law, independence of the courts, respect for human rights, including women’s rights,” he told the BBC.  Botswana was the first country in sub-Saharan African to provide free anti-retroviral drugs to those affected by AIDS and HIV. In addition, Botswana’s residents have the highest average pay on the continent, and the nation is considered by many as being the least corrupt country, despite being the largest diamond producer in the world, according to Transparency International. In addition to the $5 mil, Mogae, age 69, gets $200,000 every year for the rest of his life.

Mexican prison riot leaves 21 dead. A riot in a Mexican prison left 21 dead Monday, reports CNN. The fight, which occurred in Reynosa, was between two groups of inmates and took place early in the morning. Twelve prisoners were also injured in the incident, but their condition is unknown. State authorities are still looking into the cause of the riot, but they did suspend the prison director and the guards. It took both federal and state police, as well as some army troops, to take control of the prison after the violence. The forces also had to surround the outside of the institution to control the worried and apprehensive relatives who were outside kicking the gates and demanding to be given information. No word yet on what might have started the riot. A riot at La Mesa prison in Tijuana last month killed 23 people, reports the news service. That violence was sparked by angry prisoners who said guards were not giving them food and water, a charge that prison officials deny.

TAGS: $5 million, Botswana, Festus Mogae, Ibrahim Prize, mexico, prison, Riot

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